Proof
by Padfootfreak14
Summary: Nothing in life is ever simple, reading through the lies, seeing past the rejection. You always need to proof for one person or another, sometimes even for yourself
1. Chapter 1

I've been told many things in my life, a great deal of which tends to be rather contradictory. _You can do anything you like_ usually ended up followed by _You will certainly not be doing that_. I learned quickly that the truth is often found in the rejection, which I have also had more than enough of. Unfortunately for those who think they can manipulate their words to keep me clueless and doing what they want, I know better and the reality of it is, I am much to intelligent for them fool like that even if I didn't know better. My parents of course know I'm intelligent or my father does at least, my mother took off when I was young for reasons my father would never reveal, assuming I'd just accept that she had left. So mother aside, unless my father is brain dead he knows I'm intelligent since he had to authorize me being bumped up several grades. By several I mean I'd graduated high school before I was even thirteen so I would have to think he knows I'm not naïve enough to believe his lies. To a point, his lies and secrets are the reason that I am where I am, that and his brother. While most everyone else has tried to force normalcy on me Cheese, as I call him, has been training me to maximize my potential, yet another reason he and my father don't get on very well. Father thinks I should keep a low profile and stay out of any sort of danger, most would call that a protective father not wanting people to use his daughter for their benefit, but Cheese had let me in on the truth of my mother's departure. In her own words _I've got big plans for the world, not the least of which can be perpetuated by this family_ along with some other things, the gist of which being she couldn't plot global domination with her family. She was also another reason I listened to Cheese when he told me to have higher aims in life than a façade of normalcy. I didn't want to be a scientist or a doctor or any of those things. Yeah they could save lives, but they were too small, I wanted something that made a bigger impact. I wanted to stop bad guys and not on the level of police officer, I wanted to utilize my abilities so I had initially decided on throwing my lot in with the FBI, with say counterintelligence or counterterrorism and perhaps put some of my degrees to work with behavioral analysis. It put my mind to use and it was stopping bad guys so really it was a win-win and Cheese thought it was a great idea. The FBI was more than willing to let me in, which tends to happen when you have such a prodigious educational record. The problem was, as my father had always feared, my sort of skills got attention from all over the place including places even higher than the FBI. Father was less than thrilled and flat out said that if I joined the FBI or anything like it, I needn't bother coming back. Being as set in my ways as I am, I packed my things, told my father to go to hell and took off to start training, leaving him to believe I was off to join the FBI like I'd planned.

Sure the FBI was a great opportunity and what I wanted to do but when I was face with an organization that did almost the same thing on a much larger scale the choice was easy, the training not so much. If you're going to fight crime on a global scale then you aren't just going to learn a little hand to hand and work with a Glock. Even with my abilities I was intimidated by the training. The combat training was extensive and way more intense than anything I'd ever worked on with Cheese, likewise with shooting. I'd handled guns before, even tried my hand at archery which hadn't been something I'd taken to as well as other things. My trainers were impressed by how well I took to everything and by my enthusiasm. Normalcy was never a hope for any girl that got excited by assault rifles and rocket launchers and especially not when said girl asked if she'd get to do any of that bad ass shit they did in the James Bond and Mission Impossible movies. After I'd trained with just about anything and everything you could imagine it was time for my first mission, the one that as far as I concerned would make or break my new position. I'd have to prove that I could handle myself, alone, and do the job proficiently even being more than a decade younger than almost everyone else. Technically speaking I wasn't going to be solo, because of the nature of the mission and what I would need to do I would be meeting my partner shortly before I arrived on location but he was from a different organization or something along those lines, I was just told that the group calling us in was supplying my partner so it was a two for one mission. I could prove I didn't need other agents with me while still showing that I was capable of effectively working with a partner. Going in to the mission I must admit I was feeling more than a little confident, I was more concerned about whether my partner would mess things up on their end than I was with how I would do myself. On the ride to the designated meeting spot, I read over my briefing packet a few times to get a feel for what I needed to do. Unfortunately we hadn't been given any information regarding my partner and as such hadn't given them any information on me.

The mission itself seemed fairly straight forward, there was an underground organization operating out of a quaint little cul-de-sac right in the middle of suburbia. Reports and initial surveillance seemed to show it as a wannabe home grown terrorist cell intent on brainwashing members of the community to carry out their plans before spreading out nationally and even internationally. The particular cul-de-sac they were located in was practically an exclusive gated community that was very tricky to get in to if you didn't know what you were doing. The cell appeared to be small time, even without intervention it was unlikely they'd get far but to keep everything out of the new and prevent a panicked community my partner and I were to pose as a married couple, infiltrate the cell and shut them down. Our covers were already established and solid and our new 'home' had been set up for us. After the meeting we would drive to the house and start work. The posing as a married couple was something I knew would need the most work, I was young and not sure my youth would be a good bait for the cell but I also knew how to manipulate my looks to add some years on so as long as my 'husband' wasn't like in his forties I didn't think I'd have to many issues working that angle. I did however wish I knew a bit more about where the agency we were helping came from because I'd never heard of them, then again I'd never heard of the people I was now working for either but when you've got someone as backup, you want to know you can rely on them as well as the people they're working for. We arrived before I'd even realized we were getting close and as the vehicle stopped I put everything back in my bag before getting out. I wanted to protect people in a big way and now it was time to prove that I could do it, no more staged scenarios where no one would get hurt if I messed up, this was the real deal. Outside I looked around, observing the area and the building I was to go in. It seemed to be a small old factory or warehouse and would serve its purpose well enough. No sooner than I stepped inside I heard my transportation leave, continuing inside I again looked around. Typical metal beams and such up above, a room up top that was presumably the office of the manager or whoever was running the place. The ground level showed that the small time facility had at one point doubled as both a factory and its warehouse, quite a bit of the old machinery set up and storage areas were still intact. The one thing I looked for but didn't see was my partner, I hadn't seen another vehicle when we'd arrived though it could be around the other side, but the building was silent of all human noise aside from my own. I found myself a bit irritated, I'd arrived right on time, ready to get serious about this but my partner was nowhere to be found, either that or they were deliberately hiding from me which was just as annoying. I couldn't very well contact my superiors and tell them that my supposed partner was nowhere to be found but I also couldn't stand around forever waiting on them. A quick check of the cell phone I'd been given showed that I had a message, which was almost odd considering that I hadn't heard it go off. The message was a brief update containing the name of my partner. Seemed like a waste of a message but now I knew to be irritated with this Mark Francis. I wasn't sure if the surname was a cover or not, but it was terrible regardless and it made me glad my cover wasn't pairing that with my first name. Sick of waiting around, I made to go up to the old office and look outside for a car, given the stairs were still as sturdy as they looked. With a final sweeping glance downstairs, I turned to make my way upstairs only to find a man now leaning against them and I was immediately wondering how he'd gotten there without me hearing him and whether this was my partner or someone else.

"Cat I presume?" The man said, more of a statement than a question. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever do more than stand there," He added with a laugh, fueling my temper.

"Which must make you Mark, and considering the seriousness of the situation one would think you've have been waiting here on time and ready to go!" I snapped at him

"Calm down kitten, I got here before you did; I've just been up top having a look around while I waited. I figured you'd have checked upstairs rather than waiting round down here."

"Do not call me kitten!" I responded with a glare. I would get stuck with someone that would fool around. I took a few moments to size him up; he didn't appear all that much older than me which took me by surprise since I'd thought for sure he would be older. His brown hair was cut shorter and I couldn't but notice his absolutely stunning blue eyes. He was wearing casual street clothes like I was, jeans and a t-shirt that would be completely typical of something you'd wear while moving in to a new place but showed off fit physique, especially his arms, which was where I had to stop myself. It wouldn't do to stand here ogling the man when as far as I was concerned we were already behind schedule. "If you're quite done we really ought to get moving. I want to have a look around the area when we get there and it'll be a lot harder to do once it starts getting dark." I said calmly, still wondering how he'd been so quiet approaching me and why he'd need to look around from higher up but the mission was priority

"All work and no play," Mark teased "The cars are out the side door," He added, waiting until I walked past him and the stairs to continue with me. I rather wanted to hit him but there was something ultimately charming about his joking and I'd have to live with it regardless. Noting the way he held the door open for me, I decided that at least he wasn't a jack ass. The vehicles in question were a non-descript beige SUV and a dark blue sports car. All bases had certainly been covered when it came to nailing our cover as a suburban couple, though was a bit envious that he'd get to drive the sports car. Sticking my bag on the passenger seat of the SUV, I glanced back to Mark only to see that he was already in his car waiting. It looked for a second like he was staring back up at the building which I found odd, but got in my car regardless and allowed him to lead the way still a bit confused by the entire thing. By profiling standards and going by a run of the mill individual, his behavior would indicate suspicion but at the same time we weren't really run of the mill either.


	2. Chapter 2

By my guess, the old factory was between ten and twenty minutes away from town, while I could've easily figured out the exact I was content with the estimate and I hated math anyway. I had every intention of using the profiler training I'd received before deciding not to stay with the FBI. While I'd have liked to have gotten a better handle on my partner, Mark as I'd need to start calling him, I didn't have enough interaction with him to get much. The cell on the other hand, I had enough to at least start with and I'd need the time because Mark and I couldn't very well sit around each day trying to work it all out or we'd have nothing but a profile instead of the infiltration that we're supposed to. I got as far as narrowing down a still much too large section of people that would choose to brainwash others to do their bidding before we arrived in town. The layout of the town itself was very nice as far as non-residential went. All the shops were essentially right next to each other so you could just park your car and walk around, while the government and buildings that weren't shops were grouped together as well. The residential areas however were exactly the sort where I would never willingly live. The houses were all fairly close together and in the more exclusive areas they were practically touching at the sides. There was absolutely no privacy to be had, even more so as we pulled up to the 'community' we were staying it. It was more private from town, being right on the edge but you could still very easily see the houses around from outside the brick wall that encompassed the sub-community of Mermaid's Grotto. The first time I had heard the name I'd scoffed, places like this always had such ridiculous names though most of them didn't have a gate with a security guard you had to check in with. I could see Mark with his window down talking to the guard, after a few minutes the guard returned to his post and opened the large gate. As I drove past I flashed my best smile, might as well start on a good foot with him since it was likely there was a very small number of guards kept at the gate though I was sure the cell probably had other guards hidden within the community.

Still following behind Mark I looked around, memorizing the area. All of the houses had about the same design, typical for a development like this. Each house was white with a two car driveway and garage, reasonable sized yard and a garden right against the front of the house. I was actually alright with knowing it would be expected of me to keep the garden as beautiful as everyone else had. It would be beneficial to me that I'd be staying at 'home' while Mark went to whatever job had been set up for him. It would mean more time to talk to the neighbors and get a feel for the area. Hopefully before long we would become a part of the cell's plans and be that much closer to shutting them down. As we pulled in to the drive I came to the decision that while I didn't like the number of neighbors so close, it was actually a very nice house with reasonable privacy for a suburb. Before I got out of the car, I reached in to the bag next to me and pulled out the small box my wedding ring. With a few of the neighbors outside I didn't need to have one of them come over and notice I wasn't wearing one and question it. Saying that I forgot to put it back on after washing the dishes wouldn't exactly work at the moment and I wasn't sure what excuses would actually work. Though most everyone outside was watching us, surprisingly no one actually approached us as we grabbed what we had in the cars and went inside.

Unsurprisingly, the inside of the house was decorated with muted neutrals on the floor and walls. Any color came from the furniture and I made a note to find out how much redecorating I could do. I set down my bag in the nearest chair so I didn't need to cart it around with me while I looked around. We'd avoided having the neighbors approach us while we were outside, but it was only a matter of time before someone came over and it would look a bit ridiculous if I didn't have any idea where things were. When I turned back to Mark to suggest that we explore the house together, he was nowhere to be seen and in all honesty I was a little weirded out by it but still shook it off with a presumption that I had my skills and he clearly had his. I would know soon enough because I was sure that now that they knew his name I would be having a file on him emailed to me, that was just how they operated. There had been a few times before I was allowed to have my own mission when I'd be the one putting together dossiers for other agents whether it was on the mission itself or members of other agencies. I'd been on the other side of that as well, reading over reports from agents when they'd finish. It gave me an edge most of the others didn't have and gave me a fairly good idea of how to start and continue missions. I wasn't going to wait for Mark to ninja himself back behind me so I started looking around the house myself. The kitchen featured stainless steel appliances and fixtures with a granite countertop. From a kitchen window I could see the back patio and noticed that the yard was more private than I was expecting as well. The downstairs also had the dining and living rooms, a small bath and a room set up as a home office. It would seem completely in place with Mark's cover but the primary purpose was for easier contact with our superiors during the mission and easier access to resources. Once I'd finished a sweep of the main level I went upstairs to where I presumed to find the master bath, bedrooms, etcetera. The first room I saw was set up as a bedroom and very obviously meant for a guest rather than to enable separate rooms from Mark and myself. The master bedroom however was well set up, two dressers as well as his and hers walk in closets. The master bath was spacious with a bathtub and a shower, it gave me the distinct impression that given the other houses in the area were designed the same way, this was more for the couple that was more concerned about their career and social life than they were with starting families or anything of the sort. In the rest of the upstairs there was only one spare room that wasn't a closet, leaving room for perhaps one child. It seemed perfect for what the cell expected of its operatives and possible victims. Children would make thing messy and the parents would be more resistant, unless of course they were like mine. As I walked down the hall I noticed a hatch up above, the pull down sort with a ladder that led to an attic. Curiosity and the desire to see the entire house had me reaching up and pulling down the ladder. As I ducked my head down and went up the steps I discovered where my new 'husband' had disappeared to.

Mark didn't turn or let on that he'd heard me come up though I knew he had, but there he was standing at a screen window with slats covering it from the outside. I wasn't sure why on earth he chose a window in the attic that didn't half as much visibility as any other window in the house, but there wasn't much about him that I did understand at this point.

"Sorry for ghosting on you again, I wanted to get an eye on things and I see better from a distance. Up here I can see what's going on down there but none of them can see me," Mark said simply as I approached him. To hell with ninja, I was starting to think he was part bird or giraffe or something, going up higher and for a view.

"Well at least now I have a good guess of where you are next time you go ghost on me, though next time I'd appreciate a bit of warning that you're going disappear or something given how we're supposed to work together and all. It's cool that you can sneak around like a ninja and all but I'd rather have a bit of a heads up."

"Message received loud and clear kitten. I suppose I should apologize for earlier, I'm not used to partnering up, and especially not partnering up with a woman and pretending she's my wife."

"That makes two of us," I called back with a laugh as I went back down, Mark following me and replacing the ladder. "But we'll have to get used to it and quickly, I don't get the impression that our neighbors will leave us alone for very long." No sooner than I finished my sentence, the doorbell chimed. "And there they are already," I laughed nervously as I started heading downstairs, surprisingly with Mark actually following me. When I reached the door, I was still continuously reminding myself of my current name and as I opened the door with a smile I was surprised by who was standing there.


	3. Chapter 3

There was in fact one of the neighborhood couples standing on the other side of the door, but not the queen bee blonde and her husband like I'd expected. The brunette pair didn't look more than a handful of years older than Mark and I and seemed a more natural couple than the others I'd noticed staring earlier. The pair also made me feel a bit less self-conscious over my dark hair and features that weren't given to me by surgery.

"Hi there!" The female of the pair greeted brightly "We'll skip the obvious 'you must be the new neighbors' I'm Olivia and this is John." I stared at her for a moment wondering both where she fit in with this community and why on earth she was so chipper.

"I apologize for her," John laughed. "She has a habit of getting over excited over things, especially new things and new people."

"No worries," I heard Mark laugh from behind me "This one can be the same way. I'm Mark by the way, my wife is Catherine." If I could have gotten away with it, I'd have hit him for coming up with personality traits for me. John and Olivia however, thought his remark was hilarious and joined his laughter while I settled for an 'amused' smile and a "Guilty as charged."

"But yeah, I thought we would stop by before Trishelle comes over with all her welcome to the neighborhood plans. She's nice and all but any time we get new neighbors she moves in with her fantastic connections and sweeps them away in to her fabulous world. So I wanted to extend my own invitation of company ahead of time while she's out, just so that, you know, I'll get a chance to know you." Olivia rattled on. I found her statement odd; this Trishelle must be the queen bee of things around here.

"That can't be so bad, we could all hang out as a group, girl's nights out and everything," I tossed out, baiting for more information.

"Trishelle and I aren't all that close so she doesn't really include me often in her plans. Once she moves in it's pretty much the same with everyone else too. Sometimes they come and avoid us from the start, other times they're really friendly and then they just turn out like the others. If the area wasn't so nice and I minded not really having contact with the people right around here we'd probably have moved a while ago. But after a while you wish that you could spend time with your neighbors." From the way Olivia was talking it definitely sounded like Trishelle was essentially the leader. Whether she was adding members to the cell or testing out their method of brainwashing she certainly seemed to be involve but didn't want anything to do with John and Olivia for one reason or another, a reason I wanted to find out.

"Well I for one would love to spend some time with you. We've been having to move around so much lately with Mark's work that it would be amazing to have a friend now that we're staying put a while. Trishelle will just have to share me with you." The lie left a bad taste in my mouth, this woman was extending her friendship to me, putting herself out there for rejection after it had come back to bite her before. I didn't want to leave her feeling used when my mission was over and I left but I couldn't pass up the chance to interact with someone who seemed to have no connection or influence from the cell. Olivia looked over the moon at the aspect of forming a friendship with someone and I had to force myself not to think about what was going to happen when the mission was over. I was going to have to balance a relationship with two obviously different people and I wasn't even close to sure how I'd be able to do it.

Giving us a smile, John wrapped an arm around his again overexcited wife. "Well we've got a lunch date soon so we've got to run. I'm sure Livvy will contact you as soon as she comes up with a plan."

"Sounds fantastic, we'll look forward to seeing you guys again. Thanks for stopping over to say hello," Mark chimed in, waiting until John and Olivia had gone back to their yard before closing the door. "Not even here an hour and you've already got yourself a decent lead, impressive. To think you were getting nervous before you answered the door."

"I wouldn't have been given this mission if I wasn't able to do it and I'm good at thinking on my feet. I can't really take credit for the lead considering it was dumb luck that the two of them came over and happened to be on the out of things."

"Give yourself some credit, it would've been easy enough to lose the lead if you said the wrong thing so I'd definitely say you did well."

"Fine, but only if you give yourself part of the credit as well," I responded. I already didn't feel like arguing the point and I might as well give credit where it was due. "Hopefully we can do as well when we have to meet this Trishelle, I have a feeling she'll be the more difficult one to deal with. So maybe we should spend a bit of time getting to know one another so that when we do meet the other people around here we have a better footing and aren't just making it all up as we go along." I left out my other motive for suggesting it. The more time I spent around and talking to him the more information I could profile from him, a fact I'm sure he'd be less than thrilled by. Normally I wouldn't profile someone I was working with simply out of respect but I still found his behavior a bit suspicious and I wanted something to go on until the file on him came through. I was hoping that I got the email by tomorrow at the latest but until then it was added to my mental to-do list.

"But then I won't be able to irritate you coming up with things about you," Mark teased

"And then you won't get hit for coming up with things about me," I teased back as I got a can of soda out of the refrigerator, tossing him one as well.

"No need to get violent now," He half laughed, catching the can with one hand and opening it. His reflexes were impressive and half made me wonder why he was working for a smaller time agency. Then again I always felt that when you had big gifts, they should be put to a big use. Regardless, it was mildly reassuring to be paired up with someone with some skills.

A few hours and a light lunch later I was even more suspicious of Mark. It seemed like everything he told me was just predetermined facts for a cover rather than genuine information as he tried to make it seem. In fact, he avoided any direct questions I asked about his job and anything of the like. Given that he was less than forthcoming, I too withheld actual personal details, particularly about work. I didn't think my handler or my bosses would be pleased with me discussing details about the agency, especially with someone I was suspicious of. Mark seemed unassuming of my deceit or at the very least was good at hiding it. I was also a bit surprised that we hadn't had any more visitors, namely Trishelle. I had expected her not long after Olivia but it had been hours since then and no sign of her. With not much else to do at the given moment, Mark went to our office saying he was going to see what he could dig up that we didn't already know. Naturally it wasn't long after he went off that there was another knock on the door. This time Mark didn't join me as I opened the door; whether or not he heard it I wasn't sure.

This time, only one person was standing outside. It was a woman that looked like a human Barbie doll with skin way too tight and flawless to at all be natural and hair so light it almost glowed. She would be the perfect trophy wife with her surgically enhanced body save for one thing, while she wore an ostentatious ring, there was no husband with her and she seemed a bit old to still fit the category. She oozed self-confidence and I knew even before she spoke that this must be Trishelle. Her attitude and appearance both screamed that she was very used to being top dog and getting anything and everything that she wanted. As with Olivia, she was the first to speak.

"You must be the new neighbor!" She said with far too much cheer and in a pitch of voice that made me want to plug my ears. "I'm Trishelle, you can call me Trish or Shell or whichever. I'm pretty much the unofficial welcome wagon! I'd have been over sooner but I heard you and your husband would be coming today so I was out making a few arrangements. There is a nice restaurant in town and I thought that tonight we could go there as a welcome to town dinner. You know you, me, our husband and a nice little meal to get to know each other over." She was certainly on the ball with this, planning a dinner before we'd even arrived at the house. She knew her way with words as well, knew just how to phrase it so that the intention was if I said no I would feel bad that she'd already set everything up. However, she wasn't aware that I had no intention of turning down any invitation she sent my way after my earlier conversation with Olivia. Plastering on my best 'enthused' smile I responded to her.

"I'm the new one alright, I'm Catherine but I usually go by Cate. Don't worry about not coming by earlier, it gave Mark and I a chance to get a few things put away and settled in. Dinner sounds absolutely wonderful though; I'd love the chance to see the town and get to know at least one of my neighbors."

"Ooh fantastic! I've got to dash and make sure that husband of mine will be home and ready but we can meet up around quarter to seven. I just live a few houses down so we'll come over here and then the two of you can follow us there or if you want we can all ride together. I'll see you then!" She said with an almost terrifying smile before she powerwalked her way back over to her own house. Olivia definitely hadn't been kidding when she said that Trishelle would come over with a load of welcome to the neighborhood plans. As I shut the door again and went to go tell Mark about our new plans I definitely had the solid feeling that tonight would be enlightening. It was a shame I didn't know then just how enlightening.


	4. Chapter 4

When I went to find Mark and inform him of our dinner plans, I was somewhat surprised that he was still sitting at the computer in the office. Out of curiosity I walked around him to see what he'd been checking out and was a little confused to see a webpage for Mermaid's Grotto. True it made the development seem more modern by having a site, but as exclusive as it was the page seemed almost useless. Just as I was about to question his choice of things to look in to, he changed the page to a photo gallery type page that was set up. The first picture Mark clicked on was Olivia and John with another man, the caption indicating he was Olivia's father. A brief bit of information included on him indicated that he owned much of the property in town including where the Grotto had been built. That explained why John and Livvy were living here even though everyone else pretended they didn't exist and why as of yet the cell hadn't made any move on them that we were yet aware of. The next set of pictures were from the development itself, starting with the ground breaking and going on through completion. Despite no indicated involvement or relation with anyone involved with the town or project, Trishelle was in nearly all of them and mentioned as having hosted a party celebrating the completion of the development.

After seeing the pictures I looked to Mark who was now lounging back in the chair. While I didn't understand what had prompted him to look for this it was great that he had. It did however almost seem too convenient how much pointed to Trishelle in having a darker involvement in things than just being the overly chipper queen of the cul-de-sac. Though I didn't really want anyone to be some crazy trying to brain-wash suburbia in to taking over the world, it would make for a quicker and easier mission if Trishelle was in fact the ring leader.

"I couldn't let you get all the good leads after all," He quipped, flashing me a very arrogant smirk that half made me want to knock him out of the chair and half jump on him and wipe it right off his face.

"Well we'll be getting to work the Trishelle angle tonight; we're going out to dinner with her and her husband tonight around quarter to seven."

"I heard, she is a very loud woman and her voice carries better than I wish it would," Mark responded, laughing when I quirked an eyebrow at him. "I've got good ears, but better eyes."

"Alright then…well then you know that she made the place sound somewhat nice so we should probably go through the clothes we've got and find something suitable. It wouldn't surprise me if Trishelle shows up early and I don't like being rushed."

"You go ahead; I'm going to see if I can more about Olivia's father or if there is any connection between Trishelle and this place at all really quick. Promise I'll be ready on time though." Barely resisting to make a comment about him being a typical man and waiting until the last minute, I went up to the bedroom to look through the outfits we'd been provided with as they'd clearly not trusted us to make appropriate choices on our own. I found it no big surprise that almost everything in my closet ranged from business casual to fancy with a few outfits suitable for things like gardening or exercise in whatever way they did around here. Figuring that Trishelle would've told me if I needed to wear something overly formal, I pulled out a flowing skirt and nice blouse, setting them on the bed before grabbing shoes and a handbag to match. A woman must have chosen my entire wardrobe given that there was also some jewelry to match the outfit I'd picked and probably everything else in my closet as well.

It was still a bit early to get dressed so I walked over to nose around in Mark's closet. I had a decent idea what he'd probably have in his but curiosity and nothing else to do had me looking at his selection. Like mine it was pretty standard for suburban living and blending in. Though I'd have thought they would just use the same person to plan the wardrobes, they must not have because oddly enough all of his clothes looked to be the wrong size. Pants were the wrong length and most of the shirts looked too small for his frame but I could've been misjudging, unlikely but possible. If the sizing was actually wrong, it wasn't like they hadn't provided us with a credit card and substantial cash that could in turn be used to fix that issue. Now that I was down to nothing to do but get ready, I wandered back over to the vanity and looked over the collection of cosmetics there. I usually just used whatever you could buy at the drug store since it seemed pointless to buy something that did the same thing at a way higher price for some mega brand. Rather than the Almay or Covergirl I was used to seeing, I had brands like Sephora and Urban Decay. It was like they expected our neighbors to scour every in of this house to see if we were really proper upper level suburbians. Even still, make-up was make-up so I pulled out what I was going to use and got to work.

Mark finally came in while I was deciding on something to do with my hair that wasn't how it already was I didn't pay him much mind and continued working out my hair issued. When I'd finished I turned to grab my outfit and for a moment thought he'd retreated to the attic until I saw him come out of the bathroom changed in to his dinner outfit. It seemed to fit perfectly, leading me to believe I'd just misjudged what I'd seen. Not paying any more mind to it I stepped in to the bathroom to change, save the potential awkwardness of sleeping arrangements and the intimacies of 'marriage' for later.

"You know you pull off the suburban socialite look pretty well," Mark commented when I came out

"That's supposed to be a compliment?" I shot back with a laugh, trying to keep back the legitimate sense of attraction I noticed for him. Even in the outfit he was in he was very attractive and I was hoping for a chance to see him in something a little more rugged or regular like jeans and a t-shirt. Sadly enough, I wasn't bothered by my attraction to him on a level where he was my partner from another agency that I was supposed to be working with to bring down a potential terrorist cell but more on the level where nothing about him made sense and I wasn't sure how well I could trust him so the last thing I wanted to do was have that distraction clouding my judgment of him. All I needed was to keep it under wraps for the next day or so until I had more information on him. After that it would just be a natural attraction to a good looking man who I'm sure will be completely trustworthy and all that jazz. "So did you find anything else before you came up?"

"Nothing substantial, at least not yet anyway. The only thing so far on Olivia's father was just a few articles about him and the town. Their family has lived around here for generations, didn't seem to be much if any negativity about any of them."

"So either that family is unbelievably good at covering up any and all wrong doing, or they're actually good people and Olivia and her father has nothing to do with any of this. Personally I'm hoping for the second but that's just me. I liked Olivia and something about Trishelle just rubs me the wrong way."

"Well right now that's about the way it's looking that way, and from the sound of it our new best friends are here a bit early."

"Ear like a damn owl or hawk or something," I muttered after the doorbell rang. Grabbing the handbag and a light jacket I went downstairs to answer the door, sure enough it was Trishelle. Standing a bit behind her was a meek looking man I presumed to be her husband who made me wonder what Trish's reason for marrying him had been because while he wasn't horribly ugly, he certainly wasn't in a league that would catch the attention of a woman like Trish.

"Fantastic! You're ready to go, James and I thought that we'd come over a bit early for better introductions before we left for dinner. I see your husband is in now," She said, looking over my shoulder. I didn't appreciate the look on her face as she looked at my 'husband' and if it weren't a fake marriage and I wasn't on the job I'd probably knock it off her face. I kept my cool through introductions and we headed off to the restaurant. Both the food and the restaurant were nice and though the conversation was a bit dull for my taste but informative none the less. James was apparently a fairly well off computer guy which explained the relationship even if he was rather meek and plain. Trish also dropped the names of some of the other neighbors as well as veiled insults of Olivia. It was almost impressive how well she wove her words to her purposes and by the time we'd arrived back at the Grotto it was easy to see how she managed to sway everyone to her side.

Once Mark and I had gotten home and back inside, we made sure everything was locked up. After we'd secured the house, Mark went off to take a shower and I went to the office to check for any updates I'd been sent before I turned in for the night. There was just one email, with a considerably sized file attached so before checking on that I type up a list of all the names I'd learned today and sent out the email requesting any additional information I could be given. Opening the email I'd been sent, it initially appeared to be a repeat of the information I'd already been given, with a few attachments I would look at when I'd finished reading. The bulk of the email was the information I was hoping for regarding Mark and I eagerly opened the attached files. After speed reading the entire file in under a minute, I had to stop and slowly re-read it because I couldn't possible have read it correctly to start with. None of the information the stats, nothing in the file seemed to match up, especially not the descriptions either personality profile or physical. The most concerning moment of going through the file was when I reached the picture of Mark Francis followed immediately by the realization that flashed through my mind and the concerns that I'd been having all day. What had I gotten myself involved in.


	5. Chapter 5

Wanted to have this up like last night but unfortunately fanfiction was doing updates so I couldn't. Disclaimer, if you recognize it, Marvel probably owns it.

The man staring at me from the computer screen was by no means the man now in the shower; there were so many differences that there wasn't any way to get the two men confused. The vain part of me wanted to be happy for having the more attractive one but all logic won out. I didn't know who this man was or what he was doing here but I was going to find out. For all I knew right now he could be a member of the cell sent to kill me or make sure I didn't succeed in the mission and both options were unacceptable. Even if the pictures hadn't matched, I still would have needed to confront him over the complete contradiction between what I'd seen in person and read in the file. Still shaken, I took a few deep breaths before getting up from my seat.

Leaving the office, I listened for any sign that 'Mark' had left the shower as I cautiously went for my gun which was unfortunately stashed in my bag upstairs. I was kicking myself for keeping it up there but before you knew the area you didn't exactly go out toting a handgun in your purse. I could still hear the shower going as I reached the bedroom. As quickly and silently as I could, I went for my bag, if I made too much noise or took too long I risked him coming out and catching me unarmed and I didn't want that. Just as I pulled out the gun and checked that it was still loaded, I heard the shower shut off and took my stance. I was sure there could be a route of explanation that didn't require having me point a gun at him, but the real Mark Francis was a capable agent judging by this file and it didn't seem likely that he would hand off a mission to someone else, least of all without someone being aware of it. That said to me that the imposter had likely done something to the real Mark which made him a dangerous man which then made me wary of taking the risk of finding a way to question him about it unarmed.

It wasn't long after the shower shut off that I saw the handle of the bathroom door turn right before it was pulled open. The fake Mark emerged with nothing but a towel around his waist and another sitting on top of his head, partly obscuring his view.

"Done already?" He laughed, presumably not seeing my stance or the gun. "I'd have thought for sure you'd have been down there longer," He teased, right before sliding the towel on his head down around his neck, right before he noticed the gun aimed right at him. "Something I said?" He laughed nervously. Clearly I'd done well at keeping my suspicion under wraps given he hadn't been expecting to have me pull a gun on him. It pissed me off to a point how unphased he was. If you've got an angry woman standing in front of you with a loaded weapon it isn't the best idea to be cracking jokes.

"Don't play games with me; I'm done with the jokes!" I snapped at him "Where is Michael Francis?"

"Don't know, even if I did what do you think would make me tell you? You aren't going to shoot me, not when you're so concerned about your mission. Shooting your husband will just get you arrested and blow the whole thing for you," He responded, confident in his response but remaining still regardless. He was right, if I shot him the noise would definitely alert the neighbors so even if I came up with a reason for his injury or death I wouldn't be able to explain that. The entire mission would probably be blown and I would probably be arrested and I could probably kiss working in the field goodbye. However, I still didn't know what his involvement with Mark was or how dangerous he was so I couldn't back down so easily.

"Nice try, if you really think I couldn't shoot you and work around it you've got another thing coming. You're right about me being serious about my mission, which is exactly why even if I have to kill you to keep it going I'm not letting this go down the drain. Now I'm going to ask again, what have you done with Mike and what are you doing here?"

"That isn't really asking _again_, you asked where he was and I told you the truth, I don't know. Just like I haven't done anything to him, and as for what I'm doing here, I'm your partner helping you on your quest to save the world. You're not really asking the right sort of questions, missing parts of the story as it is."

"Enough of the games!" I snapped again, trying not to start screaming at him and half wishing I could just shoot him or at the very least hit him. He was being awfully difficult and arrogant for someone standing there completely unarmed and in nothing but a towel.

"I'll tell you what, just because you seem like a lovely girl and you're just so terribly charming and you're working to save the world or whatever it is you're doing, I'll fill in some of the blanks for you. Your friend Mark is probably dead, stop giving me that look I wasn't the one that killed him. Very luckily for you, the guy that did kill him decided to run his mouth about how he was going to make some serious cash from offing some girl before she had the chance to stick her nose in things. Now I see myself as at least generally chivalrous so I couldn't very well let him up and kill this girl."

"So you killed him instead then, that just makes everything fine. Kill someone then impersonate the man he was going to impersonate and get involved in something when you've got no idea what you're doing or what is even going on!"

"Now that's a bit hypocritical on a few points, you don't know what went on between he and I and I'm sure if you were in the position you'd have no problem killing a bad guy to protect someone innocent. I gave him the chance to walk away; he refused and tried to kill me first so yeah I killed him. Wouldn't say I'm entirely ignorant of your little infiltration mission, your would-be assassin had all of information that Mark Francis had. His bosses should've been a bit more careful with him, letting him carry around that much classified information before he was even on his way to start." I was blown away by what he was telling me. My original partner was dead, his murderer meant to take his place and kill me as well before I had the chance to interfere in anything. This man before me, whoever he was, killed said killer and then apparently came here to protect me, it was all too much to wrap my head around. I didn't know whether to call my handler and tell them about the situation or work around it. This guy was clearly fit and could handle someone that took down a highly trained agent. I might take serious shit for it later, but the thought did cross my mind that maybe I could just keep it to myself and continue. Still…I didn't know this man; I didn't know what he was capable of or anything else. He had however answered both of my questions with what seemed like honesty and if he'd really meant me harm, it would've have been hard for him to rush me when I was distracted or have killed me back at the factory.

"Who are you?" I questioned, lowering the gun. My decision could prove to be incredibly stupid but I needed to figure things out and most people weren't exactly comfortable having a discussion with a gun being pointed at them. Though the gun defense wasn't there anymore, I was at least fully clothed and out of caution I always kept a hidden weapon on me. It was a comforting knowledge as he moved closer and held out his hand to me.

"Clint."


	6. Chapter 6

Just as a little side note, since Clint doesn't have much time in the Avengers movie or much background I have and will be inserting things from his comic version but nothing will be mentioned that non-readers need to know about. Really just a disclaimer again in case anyone wonders if everything is pulled from my mind or if it came from somewhere else, when more major info is mentioned I'll probably comment on where it came from. Also, thank you very much to my reviewers, I appreciate it

* * *

"_Clint."_ He'd said. I was glad he left off his last name since it wouldn't obligate me in the least to divulge mine. For the time being it would simply be best to leave last names and personal details out of it.

"Catrina," I responded, firmly shaking his hand. I aimed to only look at his face given his wet body was still god awful distracting, but his face was only scarcely less distracting. I felt like if I stared long enough I would get lost in his eyes.

"Kitten either way then," Clint laughed, moving away from me before I could hit him. He was going to drive me out of my mind before the night was out.

"So then, what now?" I questioned as he disappeared back in the bathroom, presumably to put on clothes.

"Not sure what you mean by that kitten. You still have a mission don't you? I wouldn't think you'd want to call it off. I mean I'm no expert on terrorist but I don't see why I can't help you get your job done. Wouldn't seem right to leave you on your own when someone wants you dead." He did have a point; if I called my handler then they'd have to pull the plug. There was no way they'd let me work with some unknown civilian on this, they'd find out that Mark was dead eventually but with any luck by then I'd have things well handled or maybe even finished. If Clint was willing to stay on and help me with this, both with the mission and with someone wanting me dead, then I should take advantage of his help.

"Well I didn't want to assume that you were staying or something since you really don't have any obligation to. Not that I wouldn't really appreciate not having to get the plugged pulled on this. It would be kind of pointless for me to report on this, I mean you've already started it with me," I half rambled, losing my train of thought when he came back out in just boxers. I'd swear he was doing it just to throw me off.

"Exactly, you don't want to lose your chance at this and we've already started working together. And Kitten, it has nothing to do with obligation, I wouldn't feel right knowing you could be in trouble and just leaving you to it."

"Well I appreciate the help regardless; we can figure things out more in the morning though. It's been a long day and I think I'd like to get some sleep." I was also looking forward to changing out of this outfit, even if I would be wearing similar ones for a while. Clint responded with a nod and I grabbed some pajamas and went in to the bathroom to change. I came back out to him lying on the bed flipping through a file similar to mine, presumably it had been the one given to Mark. I should probably have been more bothered by the entire situation but I was tired and there was a very attractive half-naked man in the bed so I was past the point of caring. If I was lucky maybe I'd escape this mission with my sanity still intact but my hopes for that weren't very high. I had more of a chance of getting on with Clint than I did of leaving with my sanity.

"You know, you're pretty in your picture but absolutely stunning in person," Clint commended with a shit eating grin on his face. I smirked back at him before giving him a sharp push off the bed, after which he landed on the floor with a satisfying thud. "Harsh babe, that was harsh," I heard him laugh from the floor as I settled in under the blankets. As I started drifting to sleep I felt him settle in next to me with a soft "Goodnight kitten."

* * *

Waking up the next morning, I realized that I was the only one in the bed. As I glanced around the room I noticed that the door was closed and my gun was still laying where I'd set it down the night before. It wasn't the smartest idea to leave it sitting out but at least the bedroom was upstairs where no one could peak through a window and see it. That made me realize however, that I'd never shut off the computer which was a very stupid move even if it wasn't facing a window. It was generally reasonable to assume Clint was probably up in the attic, so I grabbed an outfit for the day and hopped in the shower. I was happy for the weekend since it meant we'd have the day to plan things out better without having to do it around work even if mine would be from home.

Rather than drying off and getting dressed in the bedroom, I got everything done in the bathroom and cleaned everything up before stashing my gun and opening up the door. I was greeted with the amazing smell of food wafting up from downstairs and went to see what it was. Rather than his perch in the attic, Clint was standing in the kitchen cooking, what I couldn't tell but the smell was mouthwatering. The man was certainly full of surprises; it almost made me wish I could get information on him without having to explain why I wanted it.

"Morning Kitten, hope you're hungry. I'd have woken you up but you're kind of cute when you sleep so I let you be."

"You keep calling me kitten and I will do worse than pushing you out of bed. There are a whole lot of things in this house that I can use as a weapon against you and I know how to do damage without it being visible," I half laughed at him.

"I think I could take you kitten. Besides, you owe me for shutting the computer off last night after you went to bed, and I made you breakfast."

"That is completely not a reason for me to owe you, you were the reason I got distracted and left it on in the first place!"

"You're just not any fun at all, you really aren't. You also can't use me as an excuse when you've spent the last day giving me suspicious looks whenever you weren't looking at me like you want to rip my clothes off." With his last comment I glared at him before letting out an irritated shriek.

"You are out of your mind! I have not given you looks like I want to rip your clothes off."

"You have, now just shut up and eat before your food gets cold and you have something else to bitch at me about." Clint laughed at me, to which I responded with a glare but sat down to eat anyway. The food was even better than it smelled but I was pissed at him so I wasn't going to admit that to him. I also wouldn't admit that I had pretty much been mentally undressing him, especially since I'd seen him in nothing but the towel. We ate breakfast in an almost comfortable silence; I avoided looking at him while he pointedly stared at me. I wasn't sure if he was doing it to be a smart ass or for another reason but I wasn't going to let it bother me. I was the first to finish eating so I rinsed off my dishes and stuck them in dish washer before turning around and jumping a bit when Clint was right there.

"I am going to put a bell around your neck or something so I know where you are at all times!" I was already back to the insane idea that he was part ninja or something the way he moved around. He simply grinned at me with the grin that was starting to make me want to kiss him more than punch him. "What?"

"We're pretending to be a married couple right?"

"Yeah, your point is?" I asked, not really wanting to know what his point was.

"Nothing, just that it means that I'll get to kiss those pretty lips of yours, and _you_," He said, putting his hands next to me on either side of the counter," You will have to keep your lusty feelings to yourself, I don't think the people around here are the kinky sort."

"God, you really know how to break a girl's heart don't you. I had all these plans to lay you out on the front lawn and ride you until your eyes rolled back in your head and you lost all ability to speak, or until you screamed my name."

"The fake one or the real one kitten, wouldn't want to confuse the neighbors by screaming the wrong name."

"You've already made it your habit to call me the shortened version of both so it doesn't really matter which one you scream now does it," I laughed, enjoying the absolutely ridiculous banter. It felt like it had been so long since I'd have someone to joke around with.

"True enough my little sex kitten; we might have a problem when I have _you_ screaming _my_ name though."

"You crossed the line with sex kitten, definitely crossed the line," I joked

"But the rest was okay?" Clint laughed, though he didn't move. "Everything we just said and you draw the line with sex kitten."

"I did, no calling me sex kitten, ever. That I really will lay in to you for."

"Got it, any other things about you I should know?"

"None that you're going to be finding out right now, maybe another day I'll divulge but I'd rather err on the side of caution for a bit."

"Completely reasonable, wouldn't have expected any less out of you actually."

"I get the feeling you know more about me than you let on."

"Not really, your assassin had a file on you but there wasn't really anything it, not even a name; just a picture and instructions. I get the feeling they were really underestimating you.

"People tend to make that mistake a lot, they don't think the pretty little girl is good for anything other than standing there and looking pretty. Their mistakes are my advantages."

"Is that why you're in with all the top secret government stuff, you want to prove you can?"

"Not at all, I was planning on working much lower in the chain of secrets but that's not how it worked out, my reason however is another one of those things I don't really want to discuss. But while this is technically a mission to prove myself, that's more from their end to see how well I can do in the field than it is me trying to show the hot shots that the girl can do everything they can."

"You've got your secrets, and I've got mine."


	7. Chapter 7

Clint and I spent most of the afternoon going back and forth with each other and coming up with a few plans as well. We probably would've spent the entire day just sitting around and talking but we both remembered that all the clothes in his closet were either too long or too small. I suggested we go out and fix that since it wasn't really something that could wait very long and what couldn't be dropped off and altered we could just re-buy. There was a mall and shopping center not too terribly far away and we'd be able to deal with the clothes a well as pick up anything else we wanted to get or felt we needed.

"Don't suppose there is any chance of getting something a bit less stuffy," Clint commented as we pulled anything from his closet that could be altered.

"Unfortunately not, we're stuck with stuffy and boring. Look on the bright side though, your clothes may suck you buy at least get to drive the nice car." The car I was outrageously jealous of, given I was stuck with an SUV and an ugly one at that.

"How did you get stuck with such an ugly car, it wouldn't even be as bad if it were a different color!" Clint laughed at me, I responded by flipping him off

"Because I'm the woman so I have to have a fitting car in a boring ass color while you get the bad ass sports car."

"Sorry baby, that's just the way it's gotta be, nothing successful and macho about a soccer mom SUV. If it makes you feel better we can take my car out shopping and maybe if you're good I'll let you drive it."

"I am going to shove my foot so far up your ass you god damned smart ass!" I half laughed at him "But that still probably wouldn't shut you up."

"You'll definitely have to find better ways to shut me up than shoving your foot up my ass," He agreed as he picked up what we'd pulled out. "I say that we pick up dinner when we're done, save the effort of cooking and cleaning up again. Give us more time to do whatever." It sounded like a good idea to me, especially since I didn't really feel like cooking and I didn't want to make him cook after he'd cooked breakfast.

Rather than going to the shopping center/mall closest, we went to the next farthest one to avoid running in to neighbors. It took nearly an hour to reach the mall and that was only because Clint was speeding most of the time. Our first stop was for someone that could tailor the clothes which I had forgotten a few things about, as had Clint. Since we'd gone out in in jeans, that meant me standing there trying not to laugh at Clint standing there in his shirt and boxers while the tailor got his measurements. Every so often Clint would catch me looking at him and shoot me a look or wiggle his eyebrows at me, almost sending me in to a fit of giggles a few times. By the time the tailor had finished and sent us on our way he probably thought the both of us were nuts.

"Enjoying your view in there kitten?" Clint teased as he tossed his arm over my shoulder.

"Well it is a lot easier to enjoy the view when you're not concerned over someone's intentions and pointing weapons at them."

"You were enjoying your view then too! Bet you thought you were being sneaky about it."

"Can't get anything past you can I," I responded with a laugh. Clint was certainly a very observant man, probably at least if not more observant than I was. I was impressed that he noticed me checking him out while I'd had a gun pointed at him.

"I've got an eye for things, but I'm not infallible. Just to warn you, before we head back home I have to pick up some stuff, I'm not going to say what but I don't want you to be entirely surprised."

"Uhm, alright then?" For a while longer we wandered the mall, buying whatever other clothes he'd need, before Clint carted me off to a sporting goods store, presumably for whatever he needed. He seemed to know exactly what he was looking for so I just followed him without question. Despite his warning I was still pretty damned surprised when we wound up surrounded by archery equipment. I tried my best not to stand there slack jawed as Clint rattled off everything he needed to the man working in the area, who paused for a moment before moving about to gather the items.

"Oh don't give me that look Kitten, I told you I had to get some stuff."

"Some stuff is not what you use when you mean you're going to go all Robin Hood on me! You said it like you had some really weird taste in something and you wanted to get it."

"Technically true, most people don't choose a bow; they choose a gun of some sort. I just happen to be very partial to archery."

"But you can handle a gun right? Bow and arrow isn't exactly the quickest, least obvious or easiest in close quarters," I questioned softly, checking for any eavesdroppers.

"Don't worry, I may be partial to the bow but I can handle a gun just as well and you would be surprised," He responded vaguely as the man came back with everything packaged up. After Clint had paid for his new weaponry we stopped for something to drink and headed back towards the tailor's. The man had done a wonderful job in just a few hours and with a very large tip we left the man in high spirits and us with one more thing out of the way. Shopping had been more exhausting than I'd thought it would be so we picked up a pizza and headed back to the house. Thankfully no one was really out or paying any mind to us coming back so we had no problems bringing in everything and no one seemed to notice the case holding Clint's new toy.

After we'd locked up and turned out the lights downstairs, we grabbed a few drinks and took everything upstairs. Hopefully anyone that wanted to stop by would do otherwise with the lights off so that we could just sit and enjoy dinner. I for one was looking forward to relaxing after the night before and enjoyed the comfortable silence as we ate. I didn't mind conversation during meals sometimes, but generally I preferred to eat my meal in silence. Sitting on the floor at the end of the bed, I got the feeling Clint was about the same given that he didn't make an effort to start up a conversation either. We managed to finish off the pizza in what seemed like no time at all, which was about the time Clint opened his mouth again.

"I don't think I've met a woman yet that could eat even half a medium pizza, yet here you are having just eaten half a large. You just keep impressing me," He'd laughed as he pulled over his bow case, taking it out before testing the strings. There was something about watching him with the bow that seemed completely natural. "You're staring again Kitten," He teased.

"Yeah, I've always kind of eaten a lot, and it is really hard not to stare at the guy holding a freaking bow." I responded

"Right, the bow is the reason you're staring, you already did your shocked gawking. I think it is for another reason."

"Really, what might that reason be?" I scoffed, finishing off my drink and ignoring him putting his arm up on the bed behind me.

"You know exactly what reason that is," Clint responded as I turned to face him, suddenly noticing just how close he now was to me. "No need to be so shy about it," He added with a grin. I stared at him with my eyes wide, not even sure when he'd set the bow back let alone moved so close to me. The bastard was intentionally testing my will and I wasn't sure how well I could resist with him right there. I internally cursed him for being so… I wasn't even sure what to use to describe him.


	8. Chapter 8

The more I thought about it the more I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist him, but that didn't mean I was going to make it easy on him. Giving him a light shove, I jumped up and took off laughing through the house. After he'd gotten over his shock I heard Clint get up and come after me. It would have been more fun if the house had more places to hid but I settled for hiding under the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Once I thought he'd gotten enough out of the way I quietly snuck around him to a small closet he'd already checked and I could see him look around the kitchen where I had just been. As Clint went down to recheck the office, I dashed behind a couch in the living room, catching a hanger on the way out and killing my silent retreat. If I hadn't been paying attention and noticed his shadow creeping around I'd have been caught then and there, but when he'd reached the closet I bolted for the stairs.

Unfortunately Clint was faster than I was and knowing him probably knew I was behind the couch and was waiting for his moment to attack. He grabbed my leg before I'd gotten half way up the stairs and twisted me around, causing me to land flat on my ass with a squeak, on the thankfully padded stairs.

"Trying to play a little Cat and mouse are we?" Clint mused as he hovered over me. "Just a problem with that _kitten_, I'm not a mouse."

"Oh? What are you then?" I questioned with an amused smirk

"I'm the hawk baby, and hawks eat little kitties like you for breakfast."

"Oh please, you wish you'd have been eating me for breakfast," I shot back with a laugh.

"There will be other breakfasts, in fact there, as I do recall, there will be one coming up in the morning."

"Doesn't mean you'll be having me for breakfast hawk-man," I quipped "All chirp, no bite."

"We'll just have to see about that won't we," He responded in a low voice, dipping his head and pressing his lips against mine. Later in my life I would look back at this moment and know that this was when things started veering off the track I'd put down and getting really complicated. Even if I knew what impact all of this would have, I'd still have gone ahead and done it anyway. Regardless of any implications present or future, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I didn't know what in the hell I was doing but I was enjoying it and I was definitely easier than dealing with the oh-so-obvious sexual tension between us. It wasn't like he was my officially assigned professional partner, he was just a wonderful and very attractive man who killed my would-be assassin and was now kindly pretending to be my husband so I could complete my mission. Besides, he was the one that started it, not me and expecting anyone to resist this man was just entirely unfair.

Kneeling above me, Clint wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. It was slightly more comfortable than being pressed against the steps but I knew I was far from light and his arms would have to get tired before long even if I still had my arms around him as well. The sensation of Clint nipping at my lower lip was almost odd, it was demanding yet all together tender and not at all unenjoyable. I was however very disappointed when he pulled away and let go of me. Pouting, I leaned back against the steps on my elbows.

"Oh calm down," Clint laughed at me "I just thought you'd rather move somewhere more comfortable that isn't the stairs. Say oh, I don't know, the bed? I don't know about you, but it isn't the easiest to balance and not have you pressed against the stairs." Reading in to his words I knew it was also meant to give me control of how far this went. I had made my choice on that the minute I took off from the bedroom earlier, not that he knew that. I thought it was kind of sweet of him to stop and make sure that we were on the same page.

"Then we should move quickly, before I change my mind," I teased, laughing when he quickly pulled me up and all but drug me up the stairs with him.

* * *

The next morning I woke up fairly early, before the sun had even risen. Without moving I knew that the bedroom probably looked like a tornado tore through it, especially since we'd never put anything away last night after we'd eaten so it probably looked like a college dorm room. Clint was out cold next to me, or at least I hoped he was out cold otherwise he'd spend the next week teasing me for staring at him. I'd probably have to point out to him that he was a very difficult man not to stare at though that probably wouldn't help either. The teasing would've been well worth the view though and it half made me wish I had a camera on me even if I thought he'd probably murder me for it. I found myself staring at his arm and thinking how well they matched with his archery and how ungodly attractive it would probably be to watch him shoot.

"Staring again already?" Clint laughed with his eyes shut "Thought you'd have had enough of that last night."

"That's really fucking creepy that you just know I was looking at you."

"You've never noticed someone watching you without looking at them?" He questioned, stretching out and rolling on to his side to watch me.

"Well yeah, but that's like occasionally and you notice like every single time I even glance at you."

"I'm sure that I don't notice every time, you're sneakier than that. You just think I do because I call you out all the time. It just makes it seem like I notice every time." I hated him a little for always making such good points, he made if too difficult to argue anything with him. I think he only argued with me to get a rise out of me, just like he seemed to do with everything else. I didn't find it to be one of his redeeming qualities, though he thankfully had several that kept me from throttling him. "What are you thinking about when you space out?" I heard him question curiously, leave it to him to ask another complicated question. With a sigh I started to answer.

"A lot of things depending on what's going on. Lately it has just been a lot of thinking about this mission and questioning if I was doing the right thing with my skills. A lot of just questioning myself and my life in general I suppose."

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" I asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"Question yourself. You've obviously got something pretty damn amazing about you or no one in their right mind would send someone with your youth out for something like this. Regardless of what anyone else things at any point in the future, you have to have faith in yourself and your decisions. You start questioning yourself and you won't get anywhere, won't do anything. Just trust me on that. Take that fiery attitude of yours and show everyone not to underestimate you." I could safely say that wasn't at all what I was expecting to hear him say. It was sweet though and it was a shame I'd probably never see him again when the mission was over. He was probably the first person I'd really ever had tell me I could do something and actually mean it. However, I couldn't really say that to him without having to then go in to my family and no matter how comfortable I was around him right now I wasn't going there. As it was I didn't even go there with my uncle.

"Wow, I don't even know what to say to that," I laughed lightly, not wanting to ruin the mood with the wrong comment.

"You don't have to say anything Cat, just give yourself as much credit as I want to give you and this whole thing will be a cakewalk. If you need positive thoughts to get you started, you can just think about last night, or we can make a few more before I have to leave for the day." Clint responded with a low laugh. Leave it to him to take a cute moment and bring sex in to it.

"I think I've got a few ideas other than that Hawk-man. Nice try, but you'll have to do better if you're after a repeat performance."

"Guess I'll just have to see what I can do about that then," He laughed as I let him pull me in.

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A/N: Thanks much to Cavazza for being a great reviewer the last few chapters, it has been fantastic motivation to find time to keep the chapters going. Thanks to all the reviewers in general. For those of you that use tumblr, Cat has herself a blog. Not anything really on it yet but you can submit questions and all that fun stuff to her, and Clint if you want to . Just you know, change the word dot to a period and remove extra spaces, periods in () belong same with -. carys(-)cat(-)coulson(.)tumblr-dot-com


	9. Chapter 8 pt 2

Preview for now, not sure if I'll turn this in to a chapter 8 extension or not but having it here makes it easier to do chapter 9

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Clearly Clint thought I was being serious that I'd change my mind because I barely had the chance to register that we'd started moving before we were in the bedroom with the door closed behind us. I half considered taking the time to tease him about it but no sooner than the door closed he pulled me back against him and kept me there, snaking an arm around and up my torso.


	10. Chapter 9

The next week for us passed without incident. Clint went to 'work' each day and I stayed at the house and socialized with the neighbors. Disappointingly, John and Olivia had left on a trip with Olivia's father so we'd only gotten to spend time with them once. On the other hand, I'd spent almost every day with Trish and her little group. It was easy to identify the women Olivia had mentioned that were cold from the start from the ones that turned on her. If my guess was right, the spacey women had become initial test subjects of the mind control while the others seemed to be part of the cell or at the very least their husbands were. I noted my observations in my update reports and my handler seemed to feel that this was a good sign and that I was progressing well but still felt that it would be a few more weeks before we could infiltrate the cell. I'd continuously left out Clint or my involvement with him from the reports, and thankfully I hadn't been asked anything regarding my partner.

Clint and I agreed however that it wouldn't take the month or so that had been originally suggested. I refused to let on that the idea of the mission being over soon was mildly disappointing to me as I'd started really enjoying having Clint around and while I would be glad to take down the cell and secure my place as an agent I would miss him. It was nice having someone around to talk to and spend time with, especially when there wasn't baggage floating around between us. Maybe that was why we were working together so well, we didn't feel the need to dredge up each other's pasts or throw in talks of relationships in otherwise normal conversations. I occasionally got the feeling that Clint knew I wasn't looking forward to our eventually separation but as of yet he hadn't said anything to me about it. If it weren't for work and the super secrecy of it I'd have considered suggesting we meet up again sometime after all this was over, but if things went well I wouldn't be sure how often I'd even be available let alone know my capacity to have a functioning relationship of any kind with someone because of the cloak and dagger nature of it.

Still, the consideration found its way to my mind while I considered the little party at Trish's that we were supposed to go to the following afternoon. She had called a few hours previous to insist we come and that itself was enough to make me think twice. Every other time she'd wanted me or Clint to come around she came over a day or so before rather than calling less than twenty-four hours in advance. She'd also said it was going to be in her house which given the perfect weather we were supposed to have seemed a little fishy as well. I had every intention of bringing my gun with me and hoped that Clint had some sort of plan since he couldn't very well show up with bow and arrow. I'd only vaguely mentioned it to me and he'd said he had it handled so I was going to trust that he did.

While Clint fiddled with his arrows in the spare room I sat down with a magazine to try and relax. Unfortunately, both because I read so quickly and my mind couldn't focus my attempt at relaxing failed and I came up with a few plans in the event that Trish's intentions were more sinister. At this point it was just as likely that we'd in some way get more involved with the cell as it was that Trish or one of the others had up and decided to have a little community party. John and Olivia were due back the day after the party so perhaps the fickle neighbors wanted to throw a party without the hassle of looking bad by not inviting them. The other options left us with the neighbors wanting to turn is in to mind controlled zombies or testing us to see if we would work with the cell, both of which would be fantastic options for the part of me that wanted to get the mission done and over with so that I could show up those that wanted to think I couldn't handle it.

With more than enough plans floating in my head, my thoughts unfortunately shifted back to my predicament that no amount of thinking seemed to solve. It didn't help that I'd never really had any experience dealing with any situations even close to like this. To a point I wondered if things would be easier to figure out if I hadn't slept with him but at the same time the generally unprofessional level of intimacy between Clint and I wasn't having much impact on my thought process because it wasn't as if we weren't both consenting adults with a mutual attraction between us. Given how entirely unprofessional it was, I fully planning on leaving it out of my report regardless of whether or not I decided to try and maintain a friendship with Clint, an idea I found myself growing very attached to.

Sick of staying occupied with the same thoughts, I tossed the magazine aside and decided to go see what Clint was getting up to with his bow as it was clear I wasn't going to get anything else done. Clint however, seemed to be the opposite. He had pieces of the arrows laid out on the floor around him and various pieces parts that I wasn't sure the purpose of and there was hardly an empty space on the floor except around the outside.. It was interesting to watch him work, disassembling and reassembling them with added bits and pieces that let on that he certainly knew what he was doing with them. I was thoroughly impressed with him, it was one thing to choose bow and arrow as your weapon of choice, but he took it to a whole new level.

"Do you stare at everyone like that Kitten, or just me?" Clint teased without looking up at me from his current arrow and I smiled a little at the start of our familiar banter.

"I only stare at the people that look like lunatics sitting in the middle of the room playing with arrows like a mad scientist in his lab or something."

"So then just me," Clint laughed as he set down the arrow and looked at me and my jaw dropped a little when I realized the connotation of what I'd said. Now I was kicking myself for giving him the chance to take my well-mannered jab and turn it against me…again. He was getting better at finding the best ways of getting a reaction out of me, but at the same time I was getting better at masking my reactions from him. "What, no catty comeback, cat got your tongue?"

"Stop with your chirping Hawk or the kitty might just clip your wings and kick you out of the nest tonight."

"Harsh kitty, harsh, I liked it better when you were threatening to eat me, much better results."

"If I'm not mistaken it was you threatening to eat me, not the other way around," I laughed back to him as I moved around the edge of the room.

"You must be mistaken then," Clint teased, grinning at me as I leaned against the wall. "Because I remember you did more than your fair share of eating."

"I wouldn't call that eating at all! After you've seen how I eat I can't believe you'd even want to try and say that."

"I couldn't help myself, the way you rolled your eyes was priceless. You going to stand there all day or are you going to come over and sit down?"

"And where pray tell am I supposed to sit over there, the floor is covered with your arrow parts and doo dads." I asked with a laugh, rolling my eyes again when he patted his leg. "Right, because I can at all trust you not to pull something."

"I've never said I wouldn't, and you still came over anyway kitty cat so obviously it doesn't matter too much to you if you can trust me not to do anything or not," Clint laughed as I sat down on his lap. There wasn't much point in voicing a response; he'd flip it on me anyway so I chose a different approach. Once I'd settled in I swung my elbow back against his chest and smirked when he groaned.

"I told you to watch it Hawk, the kitty still has claws and she will use them.

"Messaged received Cat, message was definitely received," Clint grumbled as he rubbed the spot on his chest that I'd elbowed. For some reason I didn't have a full grasp on, it made me feel a little guilty that I might've actually hurt or upset him. "Anyway, what brings you up here? I thought you were going to chill for a while."

"I was going to, but I got bored and figured that I would come see what you were up to up here. Still don't know what you're doing but it has got to be more entertaining than sitting downstairs by myself."

"Well I'll tell you what kitty, I'll let you help me and you can see exactly what I'm doing and cure your boredom. Sound good to you?" Clint asked as he looped an arm around me which I chose to ignore. It seemed like what he was doing was something fairly precise and he was going to let me help him, he didn't even know that I'd likely pick up on what to do quickly. I wasn't used to people having faith in me like that and it made me quite happy.

"Absolutely! I mean I don't know how helpful I'll actually be but it could be fun," I responded excitedly.

"Don't worry about that, I'll walk you through it. You seem like a pretty smart lady so I'm sure you'll do fine." It took a bit for Clint to explain the different set ups that he used with his arrows and give me a quick run through of his customizations. He had me impressed and reinforced my feelings that you could never really know about a person from surface things. I got the feeling that if things with the cell came to blows he would be an asset to me.

Starting out I watched Clint put together a normal arrow as well one of the trick arrows. It seemed like a simple enough task and when I tried the standard arrow I had no issues getting it done. When it came to the trick arrow I relied on using my eidetic memory to recall what Clint had done with his before I started assembling my own. I felt him watching me as I worked and once I felt like I was finished I set the arrow down and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You are absolutely amazing, do you even realize that?! It took me forever to figure out how to put the trick arrows together and you just took less than an hour, how?!" We stared at each other for a moment as I realized that in my excitement I definitely didn't do things like a normal person.

"Well I suppose it can't really hurt to tell you seeing as how I made it pretty obvious I'm not normal."

"Of course you aren't normal; I noticed that when I met you kitten."

"I'll try to take that as a compliment. But anyways, the easiest way to explain is that I've got a supercharged eidetic memory so I remember pretty much everything I see, here, feel, all of that. So I watched you first and while I was working I relied on remembering how you did it to help me figure it out. I usually try to be a lot less obvious about it but I guess I got a bit carried away in my excitement."

"Be less obvious!? Flaunt it girl, you've got one serious skill set there that you should be workin' the hell out of."

"It's nice that you think so, but flaunting well above average intelligence and eidetic memory doesn't really do anything for you. Guys don't want to date girls so much smarter than them that will never forget anything they say, and no one really wants to be friends with that person either not to mention the number of people that I'm sure would love to try and exploit me."

"Kitten you are absolutely out of your mind, only a chicken shit wouldn't get with a girl because she's got a good brain on her, especially one so pretty as you. You've got the full package Kitty-Cat." I was blown away by how sweet he was even if I wasn't sure I was buying in to it. Sure he had a habit of being ungodly inappropriate and going out of his way to push my buttons, but he was such a total sweetheart that it made my heart melt. I didn't know what to say in response to him but Clint spoke again, saving me from an immediate response. "Just don't go changing yourself for anyone."


End file.
